Tag Archives: Peace

Received this as an email from a friend. Very inspiring to see such Positive Change.

Mujahid Hussain is an accounts officer at TCF Secondary School-Shirin Sultan Dossa Campus VI at Yousuf Goth, Karachi. He belongs to Kalhoro Tribe. This tribe had a dispute with Channa tribe since the past four years. The dispute erupted when Mujahid Hussain’s brother-in-law was shot dead by a member of the Channa tribe on 17th February 2007. From then onwards, it was the sordid tale of one murder after the other.

Mujahid, like numerous other people from both sides, were sickened by this seemingly unending blood sport but didn’t quite know how to best tackle the situation. This year when their village was devastated by the floods, Mujahid was bestowed with an opportunity to make a difference!

In 2005, TCF went into earthquake relief because of the magnitude of the catastrophe. The human impact of this flood exceeded that of the earthquake and as an involved and committed part of society and of the areas where TCF schools exists, TCF team decided to contribute. For displaced brethren, TCF decided to provide food packages and water purifying packs. The team set itself a target of distributing 100,000 ration packs – one pack per family of five-six members (about 20 million meals) during the Holy month of Ramadan. TCF Team also reached Mujahid’s village. There are moments when the Almighty makes someone the source of change – God bestowed TCF Team with the great privilege to be the source to bring about a positive change. Mujahid got hold of ration packs and personally supervised its distributions at 1,300 homes of the feuding Channa tribe.

This gesture was enough to mend hearts and alter mindsets. Channa and Kalhoro tribes ended their disputes then and there. The people became one.

TCF takes pride at its team members like Mujahid Hussain who are truly Agents of Positive Change!

The Citizens Foundation (TCF) is a not-for-profit organization that has been working since 1995 to help raise the literacy level of Pakistan. They have done great work and are running 600 plus purpose-built schools all over the country. Run in an extremely professional manner, this organization has some great people associated with it and are working in creating Positive Change in Pakistan.

Pakistanis have been subjected to extreme violence over the years since independence, increasingly so in the recent years since we got dragged, screaming and protesting, in the Global War on Terror. Whether it is gruesome suicide bombs or the senseless ethnic violence that seems to erupt in Karachi every now and then, violence and unjust killing of the innocent seems to be on the rise.

The issue whether it is that of Mohajir / Pathan / Balochi / Sindhi / Punjabi or whether it is that of Barelvi / Deobandi / Ahl-e-Hadith / Shia, at the end of the day it is often the innocent that end up in the morgues.

Attacks on holy places (of any religion) are forbidden in Islam and the harming of civilians, women, and children declared a transgression by the Quran. Why then in this country that our forefathers demanded on the name of Islam are we blindly ignoring what Islam commands?

A recent billboard campaign was spotted in certain areas of Karachi (not the posh areas most of you frequent but the area of the masses) that hopes to highlight this issue of the death of the innocents. It is part of a larger effort to educate the masses by this medium.

The billboard is the gist of the message of verse 23 of Surah Al-Maida of the Holy Quran:

“O People! Whosoever kills a human being unjustly it is as if he has killed all mankind, and whoso saves a life it is as if he has saved all mankind.”

The group behind this campaign is a bunch of friends whose aim is seeking the pleasure of Allah (SWT). You may contact them through me if you feel you would like to contribute to such campaigns in the future (either financially or intellectually).